Picture yourself on a rooftop bar, surrounded by colleagues from different departments of your company. You chat and share ideas. Everyone is engaging with each other. The thing is, you work for a global company and having everyone in a bar is impossible — or is it?
In this virtual reality (VR) simulated rooftop bar, you engage as an individual with a unique personality and appearance. Your voice is heard, your ideas are valued, and you feel a sense of belonging that transcends physical boundaries. This feeling of inclusivity and connectedness is what VR can offer in the workplace. The power that artificial intelligence (AI) brings only adds to the realism of the VR experience.
As of now, AI is beyond a test phase. It’s already touching nearly every aspect of professional life — and that includes learning and development (L&D). So far, AI and VR have operated independently within their use cases, applications and limitations. As these technologies mature, their integration will transform the way we work and learn.
Let’s explore how AI and VR power-up the immersive learning experience.
Understanding AI in VR
McKinsey & Company recently defined AI as, “a machine’s ability to perform the cognitive functions we associate with human minds, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, interacting with the environment, problem-solving, and even exercising creativity.” Bring this functionality into a virtual environment and you can give this machine a real personality — you may even say a level of humanity — that can turn AI into the best instructor your team has ever had.
AI also plays the role of a powerful learning aid, allowing real-time integration of data and digital content into the user’s environment.
Let’s consider an example: Hybrid AI/VR learning can enable interior designers to utilize AI to quickly build out space specifications and with VR, they can test how 3D models might fit into a space. The advantage? There’s no need for investment in physical spaces, travel, team coordination and multiple on-site meetings as ideation, design and collaboration move to immersive environments. For example, at a recent event planning meeting for an immersive technology event that Edstutia was co-organizing, the committee planned attendee traffic flow and space layouts using such a hybrid AI/VR model, saving organizers several hours in traveling to the event venue.
3 Ways to Combine AI and VR
Here are some examples of AI and VR combinations that enhance the immersive experience:
1. Non-player characters and AI-driven VR characters.
The best use case for AI and VR is the ability to create intelligent avatars with whom you can have a natural conversation. According to research published by ICIR, in the gaming industry AI algorithms were initially deployed due to the need to create worthy opponents. Apply this to the training context and you have customized personas created with AI to support pedagogical objectives.
A “non-player character” (NPC) can help make the learning environment feel more immersive and realistic. For example, characters who fill some seats in a VR convention hall as you walk in.
Generative AI opens up further possibilities for training in VR. Unlike NPCs, which are restricted to a limited number of reactions or “branching” which offers limited, pre-coded response options in learning scenarios, AI-driven characters can exhibit realistic behaviors, adapt to user interactions, and offer more immersive and engaging interactions. For instance, a generative AI-driven HR director character can help job candidates practice interviewing and negotiation skills.
Prompt engineering enables instructional designers and learning professionals to create a robust, engaging conversation that still follows parameters. One example is setting a salary range for the negotiation or a professional, polite yet firm tone. And the beauty of generative AI within VR is that your AI-based character is learning from each interaction and can adapt its own answers, facial expressions, body movements and tone, creating a “true-to-life” interaction.
Another, more common AI and VR hybrid use case is interactive characters serving as what we term “encyclopedic agents.” A popular example is communicating with historical personalities such as Marie Curie or Albert Einstein and having them respond “in character” based on access to the vast amount of information available around these famous personalities.
Conversational AI can also utilize GPT-3 to provide a higher level of engagement in virtual environments, creating a more realistic and lifelike experience. For instance, XR company The Glimpse Group has created a VR interaction with a museum docent with whom you can converse about a particular painting. There are also virtual shopping experiences, where sales associates can practice answering customer questions during simulated customer interactions.
2. Environment and content creation.
Just as VR based games graduated to using AI for creating entire worlds and game levels, the AI/VR hybrid enables custom learning environment and content creation.
Along with the rest of the L&D industry, VR learning professionals are exploring the use of generative AI to optimize scenario development, animation, and asset creation. Integrating AI into VR can significantly reduce the time and resources needed to create learning scenarios and narratives.
Established AI techniques of model creation, generative modeling, data analytics can all be deployed for creating digital twins and realistic environments in VR. AI takes simulation in VR to the next level by creating detailed replicas, quickly generating assets like images and 3D structures, and enabling more realistic VR environments. One German pharmaceutical company uses a “smart plant” digital twin that replicates the real manufacturing plant environment and provides a convincing, immersive and convenient way of bringing globally dispersed teams together for training. According to ICIR, an emerging area in the AI/VR combination is the recreation of 3D scenes from single photographs, which could dramatically reduce the cost of creating an immersive experience.
3. Adaptive learning.
AI in VR takes the form of personalization and adaptive learning. With AI algorithms, VR learning scenarios can evolve based on learner responses. AI can take the form of a person in your virtual simulation, turning it into a different experience with each member of your team but also a different experience each time the same person goes into the simulation. Combined, AI changes your sequence as it learns from your team and updates lessons based on the learner’s knowledge as simulations progress. Your team moves through levels as they grasp the knowledge rather than as time dictates they move forward. This makes the learning experience more dynamic and interactive. AI and VR are no doubt among some of the most impactful technological advancements for training and development.
AI and Data Analytics in VR Learning
Of course, even before we got to this level of AI, it was already in use for data analysis. What would take a human being hours of work, takes seconds now. Thanks to AI, you have the ability to see your team’s performance changing in near real-time. Real-time data analytics have revolutionized VR training, enhancing effectiveness, personalization and assessments.
AI also allows globally distributed companies insight into their employees’ training progress. They can view this at a global level or take a closer look at specific departments’ training progress.
You can see how long employees are spending on training, where they are engaging most — or least — and how they are growing within your organization. This also gives L&D professionals the ability to update programs as needs arise. Say your organization rolls out a new VR customer service training program. The AI-analyzed data shows that while most lessons take the same amount of time, one particular lesson takes twice as long. Now, your L&D team can review this lesson and identify why it’s of particular difficulty.
Challenges
In the Netflix series “The Three Body Problem,” the highly evolved alien species San-Ti takes communication from the human race at face value. Any attempt at humor or ambiguity or creativity leads to a baffled response: “I do not understand.”
The AI and VR combination is still an emerging area. Any AI-driven VR character is only as good as its prompt. Remember the HR director conversational AI persona? Any deviation from the standard script or any question outside of the set prompt could still cause it to freeze, either repeating the same phrase or devolving to a San-Ti like “I do not understand” response.
Like any new technology, AI is not without its challenges. The most widespread one thus far is the possibility of getting incorrect data. If the system notices any holes in data, will it explain there is missing information, or will it simply fill it in using its own abilities to detect patterns?
There are also ethical concerns when it comes to AI. For one, not every company will let you know you’re not dealing with a real person on the other end. Is it possible to go into a VR simulation and find an NPC that you believe to be a real person? Who has access to data analytics with the VR/AI combination, and who has control over how employee performance is tracked and measured? Can the AI-generated avatar set up with specific prompts be trusted to be equitable or will the creators’ unconscious bias trickle into the AI avatar as well?
Finally, there are certain areas where we still demand human beings. For instance, when it comes to mental health awareness training, the empathy of a human instructor or coach may be preferable.
Final Words
AI and VR are no doubt among some of the most impactful technological advancements for training and development. Combined, you can use them to replicate almost any situation your team can encounter in their tenure with your organization. And ultimately, the losses you face by ignoring the opportunity are greater than the challenges of adding VR and AI to your training programs.
Quelle:
